The one thing that strikes you when you land coming into Singapore from the Swedish west coast which is right now experiencing one of its coldest winters in a century at -11 C and several inches of snow, is the wall of humidity and the tropical warmth that surrounds your very being. I was instantly relieved and even reveled in the tropical thunderstorm that greeted me when touching down in Singapore.

But as events go, I was not going to miss Sweden this Christmas because I was just in time for the Swedish Business Association of Singapore (SBAS) to host their annual Julbord and celebration of Saint Lucia.

The Christmas celebration of Lucia and the traditional table set with Swedish Christmas dishes was both a family affair and a good opportunity to network between members of the Swedish Business Association of Singapore.

The event was held at Goodwood Park Hotel, where it provided an excellent opportunity for members of the SBAS, SWEA (Swedish Women’s Education Association ) and the Church of Sweden to connect and network.

The evening began with a mingle session with glögg served with almonds and raisins and after being seated, guests were treated to a Luciatåg (Lucia Procession) that entered the ballroom in reserved anticipation, quietly taking their places in the front of the ballroom and then bursting out in full choral voice to Swedish Christmas song and some more Anglo-Saxon favourites such as Silent Night and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!

The Lucia Procession that is about to enter the ballroom.

While I wouldn’t say that the food was completely Swedish in flavour, nonetheless on the menu were the familiar Gravlax, Skagen shrimp salad, homemade meatballs and Jansson’s Temptation and Kåldolmar that could be topped with lingonberry jam.

Some cookies for dessert.

The efforts at a full julbord for this party was most impressive and as with all julbords or Christmas Table sittings, I most enjoyed the selection of dessert, with Swedish apple pie with old fashioned vanilla ice-cream and various gingerbread cookies covered in icing sugar that tasted like Sweden in the golden dim of candle lights on Christmas Eve!